Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Griffith for bringing on this private member's motion in relation to schooling resource standard funding because it gives us an opportunity to talk about how the Albanese government is determined to make our education system better and fairer, particularly for electorates like mine, in which regional schools and many remote schools have been, for a long time, underfunded. Sixteen billion dollars is being invested as additional funding, representing the biggest ever increase in Commonwealth funding to public schools. Our government is committed to working with the Northern Territory government to get every school to 100 per cent of its fair funding level. Most schools across Australia have already had the formulas in terms of Gonski at a level. Could we put in more resources and funding? Absolutely, but, if you look at the Northern Territory alone, particularly our remote communities, if we talk about discrimination, for the Northern Territory remote schools, Gonski funding was negligible.

I'm pleased to be part of a government that is looking at lifting those levels so that we can target those schools to try and get better outcomes in terms of attendance and give a lot of those Aboriginal kids in remote communities a future and hope for a future. On 13 March the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory government signed a statement to increase funding to all public schools in the Northern Territory to 100 per cent of the schooling resource standard by 2029. That is significant because, as I said, particularly for remote communities and regional towns, the funding was simply not there. Under the agreement, the Australian government will invest at least an additional $737.7 million from 2025 to 2029 in Northern Territory public schools. The Northern Territory government has committed to invest an additional $350 million over the same period. That is a substantial injection of funding into public schools in the Northern Territory.

This funding will be targeted to the most disadvantaged schools first and will implement important reforms that will improve student outcomes. Our most disadvantaged students will greatly benefit from this extra funding. The more funding that is available, the more teaching resources we can get into classrooms and the more likely we can get our kids to focus and learn. There are many challenges facing the Northern Territory, with high concentrations of disadvantage. I agree with the member for Griffith: we have to support our teachers, and we've got a lot of teachers doing it tough, particularly in our remote communities. When I travel throughout the Northern Territory and my electorate, I have to applaud those teachers. They are doing a fantastic job, and they do it tough, but they stay there because they care, because they want to give those kids a future. That's what we've got to work towards.

Is the funding good enough? It never is, because we're starting from a very low base. But I am pleased to be able to stand with Linda Burney, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, and Jason Clare, the federal Minister for Education, and the $40 million that was invested into Central Australia, particularly to look at learning on country and to be able to turn around the really tough statistics in terms of getting our kids to go to school every day and to give them a better start in life. Is it perfect? No, it's not. But it is a start, and I think that it is important to recognise that finally there is a government that cares, that does want better outcomes, particularly for Aboriginal kids in remote communities, so that we can give them hope and a better future through an education system that is going to be inclusive for them, because the education system to date has been exclusive. It has not included our kids. I think that this extra funding, the better resourcing, the infrastructure and the support to teachers and to families means better outcomes for those kids and for their future.

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